Will Smith is finally portraying The Matrix’s iconic Neo in his music video “Beautiful Scars,” featuring Big Sean and OBanga. 28 years after rejecting the offer to play the character in the 1999 blockbuster, Smith’s Matrix-themed video gives us a glimpse of what we would have seen from him had he initially accepted the role, including the decision of taking the red or blue pill and the legendary “bullet time” stunt. 

The blue pill lets Smith’s life remain the same, while the red pill allows him to go back and star in the “movie that got away,” aka The Matrix. He takes both, bringing us on a five-minute, action-packed adventure through his own matrix. 

A few weeks before the release of the music video, Smith posted a cryptic Instagram message where he recalled passing on the film’s lead role. “In 1997, the Wachowskis offered Will Smith the role of Neo in The Matrix. Smith turned it down. He chose Wild Wild West, believing it was a better fit for him at the time,” his post reads. “But the question remains: What would ‘The Matrix’ have been like with Will Smith as Neo?” Questions have been answered, as the “Beautiful Scars” music video now scratches that itch Smith’s fans have had for nearly three decades. 

In 2019 Smith posted a video explaining why he turned down the offer, where he admitted, “I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth. I did turn down Neo in The Matrix.” When the Wachowskis came to pitch the idea to Smith, their seemingly outrageous ideas didn’t appeal to him at first, but, “as it turns out, they’re geniuses,” he said. “I made Wild Wild West [instead], I’m not proud of it…” he said, referring to the 1999 sci-fi flop.

Although regretting turning down the role, Smith added, “Keanu was perfect. Laurence Fishburne was perfect. If I had done it, because I’m Black, Morpheus (Fishburne) wouldn’t have been Black because they were looking at Val Kilmer [for] Morpheus. So I probably would have messed The Matrix up. I would have ruined it. I did y’all a favor.”